Troyes

Last Wednesday we took the train from Paris Gare de l'Est to Troyes, a town about 1.5 hours east of here that is also the capital of the Champagne region. The entire trip we played an Italian card game called Buracco, too difficult to describe but a game that can be played with 2, 3 or 4 people and one that is played pretty cut-throat in southern Italy. When we arrived a woman who had been traveling across the aisle from us nicely escorted us outside the train station and pointed us in the direction of the hotel we had booked. It was late afternoon, cloudy and cold but we were full of anticipation as this was the first time either of us had visited this town. We immediately found the tourist info office where we picked up a local map then walked about 5 minutes to Hotel l'Arlequin in the historic center.
The hotel was simple but nicely renovated, bright, clean and quiet so we were happy. After dropping our bags, we ventured out to make use of the last couple of hours of daylight. We first started by following one of the walking tours designated on the tourist map but soon gave that up as we stopped in the first church along the way. The town center still has many of the original half timber structures from the 16th century, some leaning quite strikingly to one side or the other so that one can see the only thing holding them up is the tight fit between two other buildings. The town has done a great job of ensuring their upkeep and many are in use as businesses such as hotels, restaurants, groceries, wine shops, etc. It was fun just to see all the varieties of uses these buildings still have. That evening we found the local movie theater and went to see the newly released French film Les Femmes de le 6em Etage, the women of the 6th floor. The next day we spent exploring Troyes....
Troyes has been a town center since Roman times (although there are no visible signs left) but a local museum says that there is evidence of human habitation since 400,000 BC, pretty amazing! There seemed to be a grand church at ever turn and the ones we could get into were colder inside then outside. We froze, welcoming the warmer but rainy weather outside, but it was worth seeing some of the remnants and artworks from the 13th-18th centuries. In addition to the majority Catholic population, the town has always had a thriving Jewish community. The historic Synagogue has been preserved and there is now across the street a contemporary Jewish studies center, L'institut Universitaire Rachi. The town also has several museums, two of which we visited. The Musée d'Art Moderne was our favorite with works by French artists from 1850 through 1950 shown in a magnificently renovated building dating from the 12th century. The art collection was small but wonderful with some works by Millet, Courbet, Degas, Gauguin, Matisse, Rodin, Maillol, Cézanne and many others not so well known. It was a joy to view the pieces leisurely, close-up and without having to stand on tiptoes to get a glimpse that is often the case in Paris.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Troyes and recommend it to anyone who wants to explore towns outside of Paris and actually close enough by train that one could go for a day trip.